Water closet fittings and toilet stool drains are frequently installed in concrete and other poured permanent floors. In such floors drainage plumbing for the fixtures, such as a water closet drain system, is typically installed prior to pouring of the floor, before the system can be tested for leaks and before the water closet stool can be mounted over the drain. In these circumstances it is critical to keep the drain clear of foreign matter such as mis-poured or slopped concrete, or other debris capable of fouling or blocking the drainage system, in order to prevent the necessity of removing the floor and replacing or repairing plugged sections of the system. This is especially true in as much as many of the potential obstructions can become permanent, and if allowed to lodge or set permanently can cause the entire system to need digging up and/or replacement. At the same time, it is also highly beneficial to allow the drainage fitting and/or the stool to be mounted flush with the floor, so that the need for shims, platforms, false floors and the like can be alleviated and a safe, effective, and cosmetically appealing installation can be completed. It is also highly beneficial to permit the stool to be installed in selectable rotational alignment with the drain system and the water closet fitting, and to permit the desired alignment to be selected after the floor has been poured and set.
It is further beneficial to facilitate efficient and non-destructive testing of the drain system before the stool is installed but as soon as the system is otherwise complete and ready for testing. In doing so, a newly installed or repaired operating sewage conduit in the building waste or sewer drainage system must frequently be isolated from the sewage service line until the plumbing construction is tested and inspected by subjecting the system to a fluid pressure test to locate any leaks, and certified for compliance with building code requirements. It is common practice within the construction industry to place an outlet end of a newly installed sewage conduit of the building at a juncture near an inlet to a sewage service line. During installation, these two lines are capped and not connected where they would otherwise meet. As a result of usual construction techniques, the future juncture is frequently buried before the tests are performed. After the testing and inspection are complete, the connection site is re-excavated, the caps removed, and a secure connection of the two lines is made.
Various patents have issued disclosing water closet fitting assemblies test or isolation valve assemblies used in the installation or inspection of drain systems prior to connection of the systems to sewer lines. None of them, however, discloses a system which accomplishes each of the stated purposes of the invention disclosed herein simultaneously. Nor does any of them disclose a means for permitting rapid, efficient, flush installation of a water closet fitting in a permanently set floor without risk of fouling the drain system.
McEwen U.S. Pat. No. 3,775,780, and Kiziah U.S. Pat. No. 4,827,539, disclose water closet fittings comprising flanges which permit some degree of freedom in mounting the water closet stool.
Hooper U.S. Pat. No. 5,099,887, Nettel U.S. Pat. No. 4,823,411, Sosoya U.S. Pat. No. 2,596,182, and Piskula U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,361 disclose various caps for testing and providing spaces around drains during installation.
Sullivan U.S. Pat. No. 4,429,568, discloses a closure plug for pressure testing a liquid drain and vent plumbing type system. Sullivan uses a clean-out Y for access to open the plug plate assembly.
Cohen U.S. Pat. No. 1,720,819, discloses a test tee having a tapered gate which closes off a house drain pipe from a drainage system. After the test has been completed, the gate is removed from the test tee and the resulting opening in the tee is closed by a cover plate.
Tagliarnio U.S. Pat. No. 4,542,642, discloses a test tee having a plug which is a removable blocking disk. The blocking disk engages a ledge in the test tee and seals the drainage system. The diaphragm is accessible and removable through an access means.
Roberson U.S. Pat. No. 4,658,861, discloses a pneumatic plug inserted through a clean-out tee to block off a house service line to the main sewer line.
Kennedy U.S. Pat. No. 4,602,504, discloses a test plumbing system using a flap valve which is pivoted at an upper side of the valve seat. The flap valve is held in position by a valve adjusting rod.
Barber U.S. Pat. No. 4,602,504, shows a permanently installed test fitting in which a seal diagram has a frangible, removable portion which may be broken away from the diaphragm and removed to permit service use of the system. A portion of the seal diaphragm remains permanently in the conduit with its edge exposed.
Huber U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,848,155, 4,936,350, 5,033,510, and 5,163,480 have disclosed various apparatus for isolating and testing plumbing installations.
None of these references teaches methods or apparatus suited for use in water closet or other fitting installations made in poured, permanently set floors, where access to the fittings and to the test or isolation apparatus is impractical or impossible once the fitting has been installed. Nor do any of the references teach or suggest means for isolating a water closet drain system by means of an apparatus which allows selective rotational setting of the water closet stool after the water closet drain has been installed in a permanently set floor. This latter ability is highly advantageous in most construction situations, where minor nuances in alignment and spacing can be critical, particularly in the close, starkly decorated environment typical of water closets. Many of the inventions disclosed in these references suffer from the permanent presence of apparatus in the conduit which can catch refuse and cause pluggage. Nor, again, do any of them disclose a means for permitting rapid, efficient, flush installation of a water closet fitting in a permanently set floor without risk of fouling the drain system, particularly in combination with the other capabilities described above.
Thus there exists a need for a water closet installation assembly adapted for facilitating the rapid, efficient, flush installation of a water closet fitting in a permanently set floor without risk of fouling the drain system, and in particular of fouling the drain system with permanently setting materials. There further exists a need for such a water closet fitting which is also adapted for facilitation of the testing of water closet drain systems, without danger of permanently fouling or obstructing the drain system, and which is easy and convenient to install and operate in poured, permanently set flooring in which access to the fitting and to the drain system will be restricted or prevented. There is a further need for such systems which allow water closet stools to be set in a selectable rotational position with respect to the installed drain system and the permanent floors in which the drain systems are set.